If a passenger wants to listen to music or the sound on a video film provided by a so-called in-flight entertainment system (IFE), for example, he merely has the option to connect and wear headphones. This can become very uncomfortable over time, especially on long flights, as the headphones usually used for the IFE system are not particularly comfortable to wear.
However, the passenger is unable to use headphones which he has brought with him, as the headphone sockets in an aircraft have a special standard. This is due to the fact that headphones brought by the passenger have very different impedance values, which means that the headphones either issue sounds which are too quiet or even much too loud. For this reason, standardised headphones are often distributed by the cabin crew. However, when these are used multiple times, this leads to corresponding expense to clean and service the headphones.
If single-use headphones are used instead, this leads to a considerable quantity of waste.
Document DE 10 2008 024 217 A1 describes a system for contact-free data and energy transmission between two components which is configured to produce an alternating voltage at the signal output on a transmitter by means of frequency modulation from an electrical voltage applied to the voltage input, and to subsequently demodulate accordingly at the receiver side. However, the use of such a system is restricted to cases in which there are small distances between the transmitter and the receiver, and also requires the use of headphones with the transmitter to convert the received signals into a sound signal for the passenger.
Document DE 10 2006 031 010 A1 describes a method and a device for transmitting data which is configured such that both the transmitter and the receiver communicate with each other at an operating frequency in excess of 30 GHz, so as to reduce the radiation intensity experienced by a passenger. However, this system also requires the use of headphones with the receiver to convert the received signals into a sound signal for the passenger.